Opening Date: October 17, 2022
Closing Date: October 29, 2022
Reception: October 21, 2022, 5:00 – 7:00 pm
Artist Talk: October 21, 2022, 6:00 pm
Exhibition: End
Artist: Kenneth G S Tan
Venue: Arts Fort Worth
Fort Worth Community Arts Center
1300 Gendy Street, Fort Worth, Texas 76107
https://www.artsfortworth.org/
Exhibition Statement :
My works concern the Old and New, Order and Rebellion, Push and Pull, Craft and Arts. These
are dualism processes that are complementary to the energy in this universe. Most of the work is
to open a dialogue with the audience as silent. This conversation is as silent as discreet, but there
is a rebellious message within the silence.
As a Malaysian-born Chinese living in a foreign land, my studio practice is rooted in exploring
culture and identity issues. I am overly self-conscious, questioning my “self” and who surrounds
- It is a complex presentation issue, either norm or ‘otherness’ in any aspect of life.
Due to this fundamental objective, the outcome of most of my work is the least important
compared to the “process of creating.” Each stroke of ink, or paint, is not merely a mark; it
layered a collective of information and meaning of the identities.
The work, titled “End,” is concerned with transforming synthetic materials into ethereal aesthetic
experiences through various media- installation, drawing, and sculpture. The ordinary materials
used in the structure are school-grade glue, water, chicken wire, yarn, red sand, and ink.
Furthermore, it opens a dialogue between drawing, sculpture, and installation aspects.
All the gestures of applying ink to the surface and ink soaking through the paper happened in
less than microseconds. Thus it suggests a dynamic that will never be able to be captured. I
would hold those moments with the representation of the thread dripping through the paper. The
‘ink’ sipped through the form and eventually dissolved into its original cell as a static molecule
pigment. By the end of this exhibition, “End” will be discarded and reborn into new forms as a
symbolic way to a new beginning.
